Judge Halts Alleged Sweepstakes Scam That Traded On Name Of Government And Used ‘Official Looking Seals,’ FTC Says; Schemers Tried To Dupe ‘Hundreds Of Thousands’ Of Consumers
A federal judge in California has halted a marketing scheme in which the symbols and language of government and the names of bogus government agencies with “official sounding names” were used to trick consumers into believing they’d won a sweepstakes, the FTC said.
Twelve defendants have been charged in the alleged scheme, which charged consumers a $20 fee to qualify for bogus prizes and used artwork depicting the bald eagle and the words “In God We Trust,” the agency said.
Among the defendants are National Awards Service Advisory LLC, Central Processing of Nevada LLC, International Award Advisors Inc., Spectrum Caging Service Inc., Prize Registry Bureau Inc., Consolidated Data Bureau Inc., Registered Data Analytics Inc., Lloyd Brannigan Exchange Inc., Geovanni Sorino, Jorge A. Castro, Tully A. Lovisa, and Steven McClenahan.
Some of mailers used in the scheme used names such as the “State of Illinois Commissioners of Regulation,” the FTC said. Similar mailers used the names of California, Florida and Georgia to sanitize the scheme, the FTC said.
The word “voucher” also was used as part of the scam, according to evidence exhibits.
